diff --git a/scripts/microvm-runner-launch b/scripts/microvm-runner-launch
index 64e3a5c..50c044e 100755
--- a/scripts/microvm-runner-launch
+++ b/scripts/microvm-runner-launch
@@ -76,8 +76,8 @@ if timeout --signal=TERM --kill-after=30s "$vm_timeout" "$cloud_hypervisor" \
         --firmware "$firmware" \
         --cpus "boot=$cpus" \
         --memory "size=$memory" \
-        --disk "path=$overlay,image_type=qcow2" \
-        --disk "path=$seed,readonly=on,image_type=raw" \
+        --disk "path=$overlay,image_type=qcow2,direct=on,sparse=off" \
+        --disk "path=$seed,readonly=on,image_type=raw,direct=on,sparse=off" \
         --net "tap=$tap,mac=$mac" \
         --serial "file=$serial" \
         --console off; then